Package carrier



Sept. 22, 1964 R. H. DlLLS PACKAGE CARRIER Filed Dec. 4, 1962 INVENTOR. REUBEN H. D/LLS aw a 5M ATTORNE v5 United States Patent "ice 3,149,367 PACKAGE CARRIER Reuben H. Bills, 8% Francisco, Calif., assignor to Merconics, a partnership Filed Dec. 4, 1962, Ser. No. 242,315 2 Claims. (Cl. 16-110) This invention relates in general to a package carrier or hand grip and more particularly to a detachable grip for providing protection for the hand when it is desired to support a package by the twine which has been wrapped about such package.

Various detachable hand grips have been proposed which may be applied to packages after they have been tied with twine at a wrapping desk in a department store or shop. Most such grips utilize several materials, such as wood and metal, or are relatively complex in structure and expensive to manufacture.

It is an object of this invention to provide a hand grip which may be used to protect the palm of the hand from twine wrapped about a package.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a hand grip which may be inexpensively prepared from low-cost materials.

Another object of this invention is to provide a hand grip of the type aforementioned which is easily applied to a package after it has been wrapped with twine and which will not inadvertently fall free of the package and become lost.

Other objects and advantages of this invention, if not specifically set forth, will become apparent during the course of the description which follows.

Generally, this invention comprises a hand grip for use in supporting a string secured to a package, thereby to support the package, the grip comprising a length of flexible, resilient plastic material which is preferably polyethylene or polypropylene, the grip being of suflicient length to prevent the palm of the users hand from contacting the twine when the grip is placed between the hand and the twine. In cross-section, the grip is a single endless loop and has a configuration which would be secured by flattening a tube of said material and thereafter folding the longitudinal edges of the flattened tube toward one another until the edges contact. Because the grip is extruded in the shape aforementioned, it has no tendency to unfold so as to form a regular cylindrical tube, but rather maintains the shape described.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 shows a package wrapped with twine and with the hand grip of this invention in place.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged perspective view through line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIG. 3 shows a hard grip wherein the structure is slightly modified.

Referring now to the drawings wherein like characters refer to like parts throughout, there is shown in FIGURE 1 a package wrapped with twine 12 in such a fashion that a portion of the twine may be grasped to carry the package. The grip 14 of this invention is extruded from a heated die having the configuration indicated by the drawings. The plastic is preferably polyethylene or polypropylene. Following extrusion, segments of plastic material are cut ofl to form individual grips of a length sufficient to protect the palm of the user when the grip is placed between the twine and the users palm. The plastic material, if of the preferred polyethylene or polypropylene, is conveniently less than A thick.

Because the grips are extruded to assume the configuration shown in FIGURE 2, the opposed lobes 16 and 18 press against one another so as to form a normally closed slot through which the string 12 may be slipped when the Fatented Sept. 22, 1964 grip is applied to the package. Because of the resiliency of the material, the grip does not readily fall free of the package unless it is desired to forceably withdraw the string through the slot.

It is noted that the single endless loop of material which is seen particularly in FIGURE 2 is hollow within the individual lobes 16 and 18. The configuration permits the use of a minimum amount of plastic material which, while relatively inexpensive in view of the volume of material which may be purchased for a given sum, may be relatively expensive on a per pound basis. An additional advantage of the hollow lobe configuration shown is the additional flexibility and resiliency which is provided because of its structure over that which would be obtained if a solid generally C-shaped body were formed. The configuration shown permits flexing at other than the lower-most point, as seen at FIGURE 2, thus facilitating passage of the string through the slot between lobes 16 and 18.

In FIGURE 3 there is shown a somewhat modified structure which may be seen to be relatively thick in the areas where the material is bent the most sharply and of relatively lesser thickness in those areas where the plastic describes a gentle are or a more or less straight line. The drawing is exaggerated somewhat so as to make clear the variation in material thickness from one point to another. The purpose of such a modification is to save on the relatively expensive polyethylene or polypropylene by providing less of it in those areas where it is likely to be subjected to limited or no flexure. In practice, the thickness of the plastic material at its maximum may be no more than the thickness of the material shown in FIG- URE 2.

Also, as seen in FIGURE 3, the lower portion of the inner loop may be spaced somewhat from the lower portion of the outer loop. Thus, when twine is in place within the inner loop and weight supported therefrom, the portions of the structure immediately adjacent the slot are forced toward one another and the slot closed.

It is preferred to construct the package carrier of high density polyethylene or high impact polypropylene, though other plastic materials may be substituted as long as they exhibit some degree of flexibility and resiliency.

Various modifications and variations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention, and therefore only such limitations should be imposed as are indicated in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A hand grip for use in supporting twine secured to a package or the like, said grip comprising a length of resilient plastic material selected from the class consisting of polyethylene and polypropylene, said grip being of suificient length to protect the palm of the users hand from contact with said twine when said grip is placed between the hand and said twine, said grip being of extruded plastic material and, in cross-section, constituting a single endless loop having the configuration which would be secured by flattening a tube of said material by the application of pressure to opposite sides thereof and thereafter folding the longitudinal edges of the flattened tube toward one another to form two hollow lobes in contact with one another.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein the plastic material is polyethylene of no greater than about ,6 thickness.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,781,583 Hodgson Nov. 11, 1930 2,364,105 Socke Dec. 5, 1944 2,444,558 Elliott July 6, 1948 2,519,186 Herbert et a1 Aug. 15, 1950 3,083,366 Franges Mar. 26, 1963 

1. A HAND GRIP FOR USE IN SUPPORTING TWINE SECURED TO A PACKAGE OR THE LIKE, SAID GRIP COMPRISING A LENGTH OF RESILIENT PLASTIC MATERIAL SELECTED FROM THE CLASS CONSISTING OF POLYETHYLENE AND POLYPROPYLENE, SAID GRIP BEING OF SUFFICIENT LENGTH TO PROTECT THE PALM OF THE USER''S HAND FROM CONTACT WITH SAID TWINE WHEN SAID GRIP IS PLACED BETWEEN THE HAND AND SAID TWINE, SAID GRIP BEING OF EXTRUDED PLASTIC MATERIAL AND, IN CROSS-SECTION, CONSTITUTING A SINGLE ENDLESS LOOP HAVING THE CONFIGURATION WHICH WOULD BE SECURED BY FLATTENING A TUBE OF SAID MATERIAL BY THE APPLICATION OF PRESSURE TO OPPOSITE SIDES THEREOF AND THEREAFTER FOLDING THE LONGITUDINAL EDGES OF THE FLATTENED TUBE TOWARD ONE ANOTHER TO FORM TWO HOLLOW LOBES IN CONTACT WITH ONE ANOTHER. 